This is a tale of three charts and a few observations.
Question to ponder: why older Hispanics/Latinos don’t make that much more, on average, than younger workers. It may be a generational thing, e.g., the older workers are less educated/skilled than the younger generation. It may also be partly due to occupational preferences, e.g., construction jobs may offer attractive wages for young workers but provide decreasing returns for older workers, especially as their bodies wear out.
Speaking of occupations….
Of course, occupational “preferences” are often a matter of perceived career options, which partly reflects one’s education and skills.
Put the charts together and the connection from education to occupation to earnings is rather obvious. The challenge for policy makers is to create conditions conducive to lifelong learning and skill development so that anyone who wants to achieve the American Dream has a decent chance of doing so.